Garden of Shadows
by AyumiFallassion
Summary: Based off the Children of The Moon video. What happens after Luna takes the children? How does the colony grow, and why would she ever leave it to become Nightmare Moon? Love was her reason to disobey her sister, but will love be enough to survive?


Based on the Children of The Night video. What happened afterwards? A few children does not a town make. And how would Celestia find her again?

Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Ponies. Even though I'm a fan, part of my soul is still going, 'You swore never to write for this series!' But, when a plot bunny nibbles at your brain, you have to use it.

For the record, a score is 20 units/people. Bonus points if you know where the songs are all from! Some have been tweaked, others translated and then tweaked.

Speaking = "Yo."

Thinking = _'hi'_

Singing =_ "The Dawn Will Never Rise Again..."_

Garden Of Shadows

* * *

Luna's wings pumped joyfully, though not without purpose, her blue-green eyes glancing back at the convoy behind her. The capitol was almost as badly ravaged as the rest of Equestria, and these ponies behind her were mostly the children that had lost families during Discord's reign of Chaos.

Mostly. Along the journey, she had also picked up families that had lost everything. A new colony could not be founded with only children after all. The Pegasi who had been sleeping at the side of the road were flying at the edges of the foals, a vanguard in case of an attack from wild animals or even the larger races. Dragons were rare, many killed by Discord's magic, but the Griffons had no reason to tolerate a large group of ponies. Down below, the handful of Earth ponies and a pair of Unicorns were racing along, magic helping them keep up with the moon-drenched groups of the young and hopeful.

All told, it was maybe three score ponies whom had followed the younger Sister. Hopefully it would be enough, but Luna was optimistic. She knew how to start a new town or city, this being part of her training and lessons growing up. She also knew, that they had a major lead over her Sister. Anything and Everything can carry magic, with song being a very powerful force. Her Mother, the Muse, had practically written Equestria into harmony, her laws still followed today even after her tragic passing. And Luna's song had pulled in the attention of the cold, hungry, and lonely foals of the city even as it lulled her sister and the guards into a deep sleep.

True, 'Tia had good reasons for going against this colony. But just imagine the look on her Sister's face when the Capitol received it's first shipment of grains and fruit. And it was not like she had that many ponies with her as it was. All those from the capitol were young ponies, and the adults were from the roads and barren fields around the EverFree Forest.

One of the fillies drifted up to her, eyes full of love and wonder as she brushed against a midnight blue flank. The little Unicorn filly was practically dancing in the moonlight, kicking up her heels and twirling around the others in happiness. Everyone was quiet, but Luna sound sense the joy radiating from these ponies. The hope they felt at the thought of a new life. Even with the hard work that was ahead of them, they were looking forward to a chance to change their fortunes.

Hours later, and Luna was the only one still fully awake. The ponies on the ground had been lifted into the group behind her as they nodded off one by one, and the Pegasi were practically flying with their eyes closed. But the younger Alicorn still hadn't found the perfect place, a plot of land she had noticed weeks before. But she was being slowed down by her group, and her magic, though strong, was starting to wane from keeping so many ponies in the air. She rubbed a hoof over her own eyes as she stared down at the land below, smiling slightly as the young filly on her back yawned and stretched before curling back up in a tan ball.

There! Her eyes zeroed in on a stretch of land below, the green tint giving it away even in the moon's light. It was a prime location, a flat stretch of land next to a forest, a decent sized river flowing placidly next to the trees. It seemed to be one of the few patches Discord hadn't touched, though the lack of any ponies nearby may have been part of why it hadn't caught his attention. The problem with Discord's magic, was that even after she and Tia had defeated him, his magic was lingering in the soil, taking most of the magical potential for growth away. As such, it was very hard for anypony to grow anything in the barren areas, which sadly, covered most of the land. The Sister's knew that this would eventually fade, but until then, the land would go hungry. This one patch of green, maybe half a mile long and slowly growing, represented food and stability for Luna's followers.

Luna's muzzle stretched in a grin, song bursting from her lips in a trill of triumpth and happiness, awakening the other ponies. This place was well out of the way, on the other side of a mountain, and what was only a single night's flight for the Alicorn, was more than a week's worth for other Pegasi. No one would bother them here. But this meant that if they got in trouble, no one would be there to help them. Luna wasn't too worried about this, she was planning to stay with the colony, but it was something to keep in mind.

The other ponies cheered with their princess, joining her song as she spiraled down, bringing them to a soft landing. At once, the Earth Pony adults tested the land, pulling some of it up in order to get a good look. They would later tell the Alicorn that it was the best chance they'd seen for planting in years. The foals were dancing about, sleep banished at the thought of green and new life, energized by the moon. The other adults were hard pressed not to join them, sleepy smiles on the muzzles of all the Pegasi, and the Unicorn pair singing a descant to Luna's own song. Luna's joy seemed to echo off the moon, making it glow brighter as she sang out, weaving her magic into the music. It would form a protection for her band for the night, and help ease the little ones into pleasant dreams. _"May this prayer of ours be heard, we will overcome hardships! To the ending of our world, we'll continue to uphold our vows!"_

Back at the Capitol, Celestia's eyes snapped open suddenly. Her eyes turned to the moon, a horrible feeling creeping up in her breast. _'Luna...'_

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

The foals all but danced as they worked, helping the adults by gathering wood for tonight's fire. The town that was starting to form had the rough look of fresh wood and tilled earth, magic in the air as the adults formed the basis of the first few houses. The Earth ponies were hard at work already, planting the seeds they had brought with them by hoof. The tilling equipment would have been too heavy to bring with them, and was one of the things that needed to be forged as soon as they had a chance. Some of the Pegasi had scouted the nearby mountain, and a male named Tinker had reported that they had found a few veins of iron that could be collected later when they had time. The rest were helping everyone in various jobs, some bringing water to the fields for the new crops, others helping with the cutting of wood for the buildings.

Luna couldn't be prouder of her little ponies.

The friendly little Unicorn from the night smiled up at the princess, her magic as pink as her mane and tail as she used it to carry firewood. Only for her to falter, not used to using so much magic just yet. Luna leaned forward out of reflex, even as her own magic wrapped around the wood, stabilizing it long enough for the filly to get a better 'grip' on it again. "Thank you Princess!" Moondancer chirped up to her.

The Alicorn smiled down at her, nodding even as the filly trotted on, wanting to get rid of her heavy burden. Only for her attention to be caught by another filly doing something at the bank of the river. She trotted over, curious as the blue filly pulled up a lump of what seemed to be mud. "And what are we doing little one?" she asked as she came up next to her.

The young Earth filly smiled up at her princess, red mane falling over her forehead as she held up the mud. "I think it's clay Princess!" she chirped, hooves playing with the red substance. "I've always been good at modelling and clay stuff, I might be able to make us stuff with this!" she offered.

The darker blue mare canted her head to the side as she poked at the red lump in the filly's grasp. The foal giggled at the disgusted look on Luna's face as she tried to wipe the red smear off of her hoof. "What would be needed for this?" the Alicorn asked.

"The camp fire should be hot enough, it can't be very good clay."

"Oooh! What's that?"

The pair were interrupted by a dark-coated Pegasus foal with white stockings peering into the water of the river. Her little wings were beating furiously in an attempt to keep her balance, but before Luna could grab her, the filly fell in with a great splash. The pair held back laughter until the foal popped up, dark mane flat against her neck, the blue streak in it darkened by the water.

She held up a yellow stone though, proud at her find. It was a chunk of gold, not too practical right now, but useful when the colony got large enough to start trading with the rest of Equestria. Luna praised the filly as she lifted her out of the river, informing her of the importance of her find. Magpie preened under the praise of her Princess, and promised to keep an eye out for more. Volcanic Ash, the Earth Filly, promised to try and make stuff for the colony as Luna wandered off, the Alicorn keeping an eye on the rest of the colony.

Luna was concerned by a few things, but what kept coming to the front of her mind was that none of the orphan's had their Cutie Marks yet. And many of them were old enough to have found them by now. Were they not stimulated enough in the capitol? As orphans, were they not getting enough chances to try and find their special talent? _'Well,'_ she thought to herself, _'we will just have to give them enough chances out here instead.'_

"Princess Luna!"

One of the adult Unicorns was hailing her. She was struggling with a plank, trying to level it out in the air, but it was obvious that her magic was starting to falter. The Alicorn jumped in, her own horn lighting up as she grasped an end of the board, letting the lemon-yellow mare ease off to the other end. "Oh thank you," Puzzle breathed, the pair of mares walking the wood over to one of the buildings.

"Everypony!" Luna called out after she and Puzzle had dropped the plank. "Take a break, do not burn yourselves out!" she warned, eyeballing the Unicorn next to her until she dropped down onto her lion-tufted red and dark red tail. Luna could only figure that the tail was a left over of Discord's magic. There was a smattering of those still floating around. "We are all making good time, but do not strain yourselves."

The horde of foals all cheered, dancing over to the Alicorn, some begging for flights again. The blue mare only laughed as she lifted them into the air, letting them fly circles around her and the other adults. Life was already looking up compared to the capitol and the other small villages. Some of the other adults trotted up, baskets strapped to their sides filled with some of the bounty from the forest. Wild it was, but it had berries and flowers and some of the trees had leaf buds that were very tasty. With any luck, it would sustain the community until the first crop of food came in. A song started up, a catchy little ditty from one of the villages, and the others slowly joined in. _"We'll continue on, Because we are the children of the journey!"_ Luna sang out, joining in at the parts she knew.

Life was looking up.

~~~...~~~...~~~

Luna might have gotten away clean, but for a few things. One, even though she was able to raise or lower the moon anywhere in Equestria, she was still missing from the Capitol. And though many of her foals had been those who had fallen through the system and were sleeping on the streets, she had also taken entire orphanages. The care-takers had awoken in the morning, some less grudgingly than others, only to find that their charges had all disappeared in the night. Reports were coming in from all over the capitol. All told, it seemed that Luna had taken a good thirty to forty foals with her.

Celestia sighed quietly as she looked over the list of known missing foals. True, her sister had only taken those without families, but she had still disobeyed her command. She knew what she was likely doing. But Celestia had no clue how she was going to found a new colony with only foals. She wouldn't find out about the other score or so of adults from around the countryside that had also followed her sister into the wild until much later.

Already, the news that the younger Alicorn Sister had disappeared with a troupe of foals was circulating throughout the capitol, and many of the ponies were fearful that she would return and take their own foals the next night. What if last night was only a test, to see if she could? What was Celestia going to do about her sister? In fear, many of the ponies had locks and bolts installed in their homes, over doors and windows.

Celestia addressed her subjects that afternoon, having taken the time to plan what she was going to say to them. She reassured them that Luna had only taken enough to form a new colony, that she would not come back for them or their foals, that they would be safe at night, like they had been every night since the pair had taken care of Discord. Some believed.

Others did not.

At the normal time, Celestia started to let the sun set, curious to see if Luna was still paying attention where ever she was. But right on time, the moon started to rise into the darkening sky, and Celestia used her magic to force the sun into the sky for a few extra minutes, fighting her sister in a subtle way that would let her know that she knew. The moon seemed to creep into the sky after that, though it was much brighter than it had been in years.

Where ever Luna was, she was happy. Happier than she had been in a long time.

Tia bit her lip as she realized this. She hadn't noticed that the moon had slowly dimmed, but she noticed it now that it was back to it's full brilliance. Had Luna truly been that unhappy about the fate of the land? Not that Celestia wasn't worried for their ponies as well, but she knew that it would take time and patience for the world to come back to full health. At her core, Luna seemed to be a softer heart than the older Alicorn. Celestia smiled at that thought for a second. _'She's more like Mother than I am at times,'_ she thought, gaze turned to the statue of the Alicorn in question in the plaza below. Stars above, she missed her mother, but what's done is done, and she needed to keep an eye on the future, not dwell in the past.

She shook her head. The guards would be ordered to keep an eye out for the other Alicorn, but until Luna came back by herself, there was little Celestia could do.

~~~...~~~...~~~

With all but a small pile of emergency seeds planted and the homes build, the colony had settled into a calmer state. One of the Earth pony mares had been a school teacher in another life, and Den Mother had started lessons for all the foals. Not just history or math though, she had been taking them into the forest in order to teach them what was edible and what could be used for basic medicines. In fact, on her second trip into the woods, one of her students, a Unicorn filly named Foxglove, had found her cutie mark, a mortar and pestle to show her wish to become a healer.

Luna had been correct in her thought that the orphans just didn't have the chances in the city to find their talents. Magpie, the Pegasus filly who fond the first lump of gold, had lived up other name and tended to find a few larger pieces a day, had a money-based mark. Volcanic Ash had found a ceramics based mark after her first set of pots and plates had survived their firing. An Earth colt named Nightshade found his talent for song. Luna suspected that the first crop of wheat would show the arrival of at least a few cooking talents.

The hard part, was the few problems starting to crop up. Until the wheat and oats were ready to be harvested, they only had the hay they could find near the forest, and most of it was struck by the blight left in Discord's wake. Much rode on the hopes that they would have enough to get them through the winter and to plant again next spring. Any extra left after they wrapped up winter this year, Luna would bring back to the capitol to use for their own planting.

What helped was that they could see the lush green of the field growing daily, blade by blade as the natural order took back the land. It was only an inch a day at most, but it added up as the borders spread out. With any luck, there were other patches across Equestria, signs that life would soon be normal again, but this one here was the largest and lushest Luna was able to find in any direction. And she had looked, late at night when her little ponies had succumbed to sleep. While half a mile seemed like a large amount to the foals, Luna and the adults knew that it wasn't all that much when every square inch had to be used to grow food. Saplings, encouraged to grow faster by magic, were covered in a bright spray of flowers, bees from the forest buzzing around them happily. The apples trees had been encouraged to what equaled three years of growth, so they were hopeful about those. The wheat and oats were doing well, as well as the carrots and onions and turnips. But the flowers, were still struggling a little. Many of them were more delicate than other crops, with only the daisies growing like the weeds they were. The tulips were growing slowly, and while the town was built off to the side on blighted land, everyone had flowerpots (courtesy of young Ash) with tiny rose bushes growing in soil taken from the edge of the fields. With any hope, the pots would hold until the green had spread to their growing town, at which point, they would be transplanted to plots near their doors.

Another issue was keeping the foals up at night when they should be sleeping. They kept hearing howls from the forest at light, and in their fear, they kept saying that they were getting louder each time. Luna agreed with them, but in order to keep them calm she was telling them that the howls were from far away even as she sang them into sleep. As such, when she should be napping until the moon needed to be lowered, she was patrolling the village, keeping her eyes open for anything that might be interested in a pony-sized snack. It was starting to show in the young Alicorn, her green-blue eyes gaining dark circles under them as she still stayed up as long as she could in order to help her new village.

She sighed softly, smiling down at a young Unicorn colt when he looked up at her curiously. Young Candlelight was as bright as the flames he was named for, his short mane and tail the colors of fire, and Luna was helping him with a project that she thought might be the way to his talent. He had seen a large bee hive a few meters into the borders of the forest, and he wanted to see if he could find more, or even an old one that the bees had abandoned. The honey in an old hive may be gone, but the wax would still be there, and still of great use to the village.

"This way Princess Luna!" Candlelight sang, prancing into the forest happily. His coat was as pale white as Celestia's, and it practically glowed in the dim light of the forest. The Alicorn smiled at the sight of him, glad that she had taken the time to help the other adults and watch him for this. The youngster was a joy to watch, with more energy than he seemed to know what to do with.

She froze, eyes pinned on the darkness. "Candlelight, come here, now," she barked quietly, catching the colt's attention. The young one groaned, annoyed that he had to turn away from what seemed to be a promising hive, but obeyed at the serious look on the Alicorn's face. Her horn started to glow, her magic dark and flecked with sparks as she stared down the shadows. "Go back to the village. Warn the adults, there is something here."

Those green-blue eyes were hard as she stared, lowering her head as Candlelight raced away towards the river. It was a atand-off, the princess refusing to back down from the monster before her. And it was a monster. A paw stepped into a patch of light, wolf in shape, but composed of wood and splintering claws. The muzzle of the ones beautiful carnivore was wooden as well, teeth made of shards of stone. The Timber Wolf was a creature of chaotic magic, a creation of Discord's that refused to disappear. The guards of the capitol were trained to repel the packs that lived in the EverFree forest. Luna had hoped that they were not present in this forest as well.

But here they were. And they were hungry.

"Help! Princess Luna needs help!" Candlelight yelled as he burst from the trees, little hooves moving as fast as they could. The adults all came to attention at this, a dark purple-bodied Pegasus named Whirlwind taking charge of the flight, while the herd and small blessing moved to guard the village and foals as Candlelight babbled to the adults. While no longer bred for war, the Pegasi were still naturally aggressive, and they moved into the forest, ready to dive down and help their princess at the drop of a feather. Only for Tinker and some of the others to cry out in angry fear.

Luna was surrounded by Timber Wolves. Not the semi-tame ones of the EverFree, the wolves who knew what the ponies could do and as such respected that strength. No, these wolves had never seen ponies before. Their caution was only that of a new prey, not a worthy fighter that could defend herself. Whirlwind gritted his teeth, shaking a dark mane out of his hazel eyes as the wolves charged, a pair of them snapping at the Princess' wings. "Charge!" he yelled, diving down into the trees, the other nine Pegasi right behind him as they entered the forest from above.

The Alicorn shot off her magic, trying to shake the wolves from her. Claws of splintered wood had already scored her flank, cutting through the crescent moon of her cutie mark. She was lucky that the first pair of attackers had missed her wings. The one wolf yelped, falling into a pile of loose wood as she hit it with her magic, and another cried as she bucked, scoring a hit under it's jaw. Only for her to cry out and stumble as stone teeth clamped around her foreleg. She tried to stab at the beast, desperate to get it to let go, but it was at an angle where she couldn't reach it.

That was when the flight got through the trees, attacking the remaining wolves angrily. She stumbled again as the wolf was turn away, her leg bleeding and crumpling under her own weight, but luckily not broken. "Whirlwind," she uttered, eyes growing heavy from stress and lack of sleep and a loss of blood, her body falling over to the side as graceful as a petal. Her name being called desperately was the last thing she heard before the world went dark.


End file.
